PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

PBA NETWORK EXPANDS WITH REGIONAL LIVE SCORING, GEOFILTER FOR MAINE

The PBA Network, already the sport’s most comprehensive communications tool, has expanded with a software update that allows PBA’s Regional Managers to post real time game-by-game results on pba.com for all regional tournaments. The improved Live Scoring feature will enable fans to follow tournaments in the PBA’s East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest, West and Northwest Regions as they happen.

The PBA also has announced the enthusiastic fan base at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, will be encouraged to share the fun of the MaineQuarterly.com Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship and the L.L. Bean PBA League Elias Cup competition with PBA fans around the world using a new Snapchat geofilter to share photos and videos. The geofilter, which will be introduced on April 9, creates a kind of “photo frame” around Snapchat content that will tell the world you are attending the PBA competition in Portland. The app will be available through the iTunes store, Google Play for android users or by visiting https://www.snapchat.com/geofilters.

The new PBA Network additions expand the PBA’s reach into mainstream media, social media and digital platforms that provide PBA fans around the world with a wide variety of media outlets to access PBA news, video, interviews and more.

PBA STARS TO PARTICIPATE IN “STRIKE OUT CHILD HUNGER” EVENT IN PORTLAND

Eighteen PBA Tour stars will participate in a “Strike Out Child Hunger” fundraiser as part of the PBA’s visit to Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, April 9-16. The second annual “Bowling for a Cause” pro-am event, which is being held in cooperation with a number of Portland area restaurants, will take place on Sunday, April 9, at 6 p.m., following the official practice session for the MaineQuarterly.com Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship competitors.

The special pro-am will involve 18 teams bowling with PBA stars. Each team will be sponsored by a Portland area restaurant for a minimum contribution of $1,000 per team. Last year’s inaugural event raised more than $10,000 to help combat childhood hunger issues in Maine, and this year, with donations of food, $25 admission fees for spectators to watch and other contributions, Child Hunger pro-am founder and Bayside Bowl co-owner Justin Alfond said the goal is to raise more than $20,000.

Players participating in the Strike Out Child Hunger pro-am squad are: DJ Archer, Dom Barrett, Josh Blanchard, Parker Bohn III, Jakob Butturff, Ryan Ciminelli, Martin Larsen, Chris Loschetter, Danielle McEwan, Rhino Page, Sean Rash, Ronnie Russell, Anthony Simonsen, Tom Smallwood, Bryon Smith, John Szczerbinski, Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Dave Wodka.

Money raised during the pro-am event will support Full Plates Full Potential, a non-profit organization that works to connect children with the reliable, nutritious meals they need to thrive. If you can’t attend the event in person, but would like to support the effort, you can make a donation in the name of your favorite bowler (https://www.fullplates.org/pba) or you can donate in the name of one of Portland’s participating restaurants (https://www.fullplates.org/events/bowl).

THIS WEEK: “PICK THE TRACK BALL” FOR PBA BOWLING CHALLENGE MOBILE GAME

Concrete Software’s second-edition “pick the ball” survey for PBA Bowling Challenge mobile game invites users to select a new ball model from among three options provided weekly for each PBA-participating brand. This week’s brand is Track. Based on fan voting (click here: http://bit.ly/Track_17 to cast your vote), the “winning” Track ball will be available for play on April 14.

A code to purchase the ball for 50% off (the code will be available on PBA’s and the specific companies’ social media pages) will be posted. Each company also will have a flashback weekend where all its previous balls will be available for that weekend only.

QUBICA AMF PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: TOMMY JONES WINS CCFA BENEFIT TOURNEY TITLE

Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. defeated local favorite Mike Moore of Orlando, Fla., 242-212, to win his 13th QubicaAMF PBA Regional title in the PBA’s Strike Out Crohn’s & Colitis South Open at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando Sunday.

After Moore missed a single pin spare in the second frame, Jones raced into a commanding lead that Moore could not overcome. Along with his title, Jones, an 18-time PBA Tour title winner, earned $4,000.

The CCFA Strike Out Crohn’s & Colitis South Open was a benefit tournament orchestrated by Orlando resident and PBA champion Rhino Page, the 2016 Tony Reyes Community Service Award recipient and raised more than $5,000 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.

In first game of the four-player stepladder finals, amateur Matt Russo of Millstone Township, N.J., easily overtook reigning PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., 228-180. Jones then eliminated Russo in the semifinal match, 257-211.

● Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Ariz., defeated Dean Richards of Tacoma, Wash., 250-239, to win the PBA DV8 Northwest/West Open at Caveman Bowl in Grants Pass, Ore., Sunday.

The win was Butturff’s 10th in QubicaAMF PBA Northwest and/or West regional competition in less than two years as a PBA member. He also earned $2,000 for the win.

The 23-year-old lefthander defeated Bryon Smith of Roseburg, Ore., in a one-ball sudden death roll-off in the semifinal round match after they tied at 248. The roll-off went six attempts before Butturff struck and Smith left a seven-count to lose. Smith defeated Chris Warren of Grants Pass, Ore., 221-207, in the opening match and then Smith eliminated amateur Adrian Anderson of Roseburg, Ore., 227-204.

● David Kneas of Annapolis, Md., defeated Gary Bondarchuk of Langhorne, Pa., 279-237, to win the PBA50 Rossi Lanes Eastern Open at Rossi Lanes in Elmira, N.Y., Sunday for his ninth career QubicaAMF PBA Regional title and a $3,000 first prize.

Kneas started Saturday’s qualifying with a 300 game and led the remainder of the weekend. He earned byes for two single-elimination match play rounds as qualifying leader and then defeated Sam Maccarone of Blackwood, N.J., 2-1, in the best-of-three-game Round of 8 before eliminating Steve Jones of Berlin, Md., 234-198, in the semifinal round.

Bondarchuk, who qualified sixth, defeated local amateur Chuck Pitts of Cortland, N.Y., 2-1, in the Round of 12; Ray Edwards of Middle Island, N.Y., 2-0, in the Round of 8, and Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., 236-214, in his semifinal round match.

● Scott Merritt of Iowa City, Iowa, defeated Walt Schaub of Schaumburg, Ill., 290-279, to win his first QubicaAMF PBA Regional title in the PBA50 Liberty Lanes Midwest/Central Open at Liberty Lanes in Carpentersville, Ill., Saturday.

Merritt, bowling his first PBA50 regional event after turning 50 in May of 2016, earned $1,700 after Schaub’s bid for a 300 game in the title match ended when he left a 2 pin on his first shot in the 10th frame after starting the match with nine strikes.

Merritt defeated tournament host Jerry Morano of Lombard, Ill., 205-192 in the semifinal round while Schaub edged Dave Armstrong of Naperville, Ill., 209-200, to set up the championship match.

● Closing out March and kicking off April’s PBA Regional calendar over the March 31-April 2 weekend will be the PBA50 Showtime Lanes Midwest/Central Open in Virden, Ill.; the Myrtle Beach South Open at Myrtle Beach  Bowl in South Carolina; the FireLake Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Southwest Open at FireLake Bowl in Shawnee, Okla., and a PBA West/Northwest tripleheader at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno – the PBA50 and PBA Sands Regency West/Northwest Classic events plus the Sands Regency West/Northwest Challenge (for non-titlists), presented by DV8. The weekend also will include a Sunday-only reduced entry fee Elkhart Central/Midwest Open presented by 900 Global at Country Club Lanes in Elkhart, Ind.

● For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on PBA Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.

QUICK NOTES

● With his victory in the Brunswick Euro Challenge in Munich, Germany, Sunday, England’s Dom Barrett joined Mika Koivuniemi, Osku Palermaa and Jesper Svensson as the fourth player to win three PBA International-World Bowling Tour titles since PBA and World Bowling launched the international tournament series five years ago. Since the initiative began in 2012, 15 different PBA members have won international titles in the global series.

● Just in time for the 2017 L.L. Bean PBA League Elias Cup finals, April 13-16 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, the PBA has created a new series of PBA League logoed baseball caps and s-shirts for each team.  To order your cap or t-shirt, visit http://pba.firelakedesigns.com/.

● Applications for the 2017 $1,000 PBA Billy Welu Scholarship, recognizing exemplary qualities in male or female college students who compete in bowling, are due by June 15. Candidates must be currently attending college and maintaining at least a 2.5/4.0 GPA or equivalent. The two-part application can be retrieved using this link http://www.pba.com/Corporate/Scholarships. Nominations also can be sent by email to scholarships@pba.com or mailed to PBA Billy Welu Scholarship, 55 E. Jackson Blvd., Suite 401, Chicago, IL 60604.